My, what big eye you have: Some giant sea creature seems to have lost something important that washed onto a Florida beach. Facebook.com/MyFWC

October 12, 2012

ADVERTISEMENT

Sign Up for

Our free email newsletters

10 things you need to know today

Today's best articles

Today's top cartoons

The good news newsletter

The week's best photojournalism

Daily business briefing

The image: After a grotesquely large eyeball washed ashore in Pompano Beach, Fla., on Wednesday, scientists have been trying to figure out what unlucky marine animal it might have belonged to. The photo of the discovery went viral when it was posted to the Fish and Wildlife Institute's Facebook page with the caption, "THE MYSTERY EYEBALL," prompting hundreds of comments. Although the ocular orb is still being analyzed, marine biologists say it likely belonged to a giant squid, a whale, or a large fish such as a tuna or swordfish.

The reaction: "It's not that body parts never wash ashore on Florida beaches," says The Associated Press, but when they do, they are usually not eyes "the size of a softball." "This is the weirdest thing you'd ever expect to find washed up on the beach," says Jaqueline Burt at The Stir, but I like how strange this story is. In fact, I secretly hope that marine biologists never figure out where this eye came from, says Burt. "Unless the answer to the question of this eyeball's origin is weird enough to inspire an HBO series or a movie that relies heavily on special effects, I don't want to know."